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THE MARINE REVIEW VOL. 45 CLEVELAND MARCH, 1914 NEW YORK No. 3 Water Supply of Ships A Discussion of the Water Furnished for Drinkins Purposes and of the Methods of Sewage Disposal on Ships on Inland Waters HE fact that > drinking. water aboard vessels operating on the lakes and rivers of this country is frequently responsible for serious outbreaks of typhoid fever and diar- rhea affections and the generally high incidence of these diseases among crews and passengers clearly demon- strates the immediate necessity for the promulgation of regulations and the adoption of efficient measures to control a situation which is of para- mount importance both to the health of the traveling public and the com- mercial welfare of inland waterway transportation. ~ Of the outbreaks during recent years, probably the best known and most widely reported in journals and news- papers throughout the country was the one which occurred in the summer of 1907, on a big steamer of the' great lakes. It is stated that during one short period of the summer's eruise 77 cases of typhoid fever developed as the result of the use of impure drinking water taken from the Detroit river. Surg. L. L. Lumsden, of the United States public health service, states, in his re- port of an outbreak among 1,200 pas- sengers on a Mississippi river excur- sion steamer in 1912, that there oc- curred over 600 cases of diarrhea and 13 cases of typhoid fever with five deaths. Investigations by this service of similar outbreaks on three great lakes vessels during the summer of 1913 showed that out of a total of 750 people there were over 300 cases of diarrhea and 52 cases of typhoid with seven deaths. The foregoing instances do not by any means give a proper idea of the annual number of cases of typhoid fever and intestinal diseases in which the infection is undoubtedly contract- *Past Assistant Surgeon United States Pub- lic Health Service. ed aboard vessels, but are merely cited as being illustrative of the in- tensity of distinct outbreaks which may occur at any time as a result of the entirely too prevalent use of pollut- ed drinking water on ships. When we consider that the records for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1913, show over 1,600 steam vessels operating on the great lakes alone, and that during this same period there were carried on these lakes over 16,000,000 passengers, it is easy to realize that our inland vessels may play more than a minor role in the maintenance of the coun- try's high typhoid fever rate. In reference to the incidence of typhoid among crews only, it may be stated that during the calendar year 1913 there were treated at the stations of the United States public health ser- vice in the great lakes region 144 cases of typhoid fever among seamen of lake vessels. The seasonal prevalence of diarrhea among lake crews is so com- mon as to be looked upon by them as normally incidental to the summer's sailing. Though, of course, the roving life of a: sailor exposes him to' many sources of infection on shore, from such evidence as is available it may be concluded that a large proportion of the typhoid cases and by far the ma- jority of diarrheal cases among them may be properly attributed to the use of sewage-polluted drinking water on board, the facts developed in the in- vestigations of distinct outbreaks clearly bearing out this deduction. The character of the drinking water supplied on board ships is chiefly in- fluenced by the amount and extent of pollution of the sources of supply, the responsibility and care displayed in selecting the immediate source, and the vessel's water-intake system. As to the pollution of our lakes and rivers, it is well known that this has become a serious question and one which is at present demanding the at- By Hugh de Valin* tention of federal, state and municipal health authorities. The recent sani- tary surveys of the great lakes region by the international joint commission have demonstrated that sewage pollu- tion of these bodies of water is yearly becoming more extensive and is pro- portionately lessening their value as a source of pure water supply. As these lakes are used as cesspools for the sewage of many cities and ships, the amount of pollution is naturally com- mensurate with the growth of these cities and the increase in shipping. Undoubtedly there are numerous areas where pure raw water can be obtained, but the extent and concen- tration of pollution are so variable on account of wind, currents and other factors, that the customary lanes of travel and limited tank capacity too frequently necessitate a ship's taking water from areas of questionable safe- ty. The effect of this variation in pol- lution was clearly demonstrated in the case of a vessel, the tanks of which were filled on one occasion when the vessel was about 4 miles offshore from Two Harbors, Minn. The wa- ter here is of good depth and generally or safe quality, but this time there happened to be a very strong offshore wind, and evidently sewage had been carried well out,as the subsequent use of the water pumped aboard resulted in a severe outbreak of diarrhea among the crew. Not only is a ship exposed to city sewage, but to that from other ships as well. to port naturally take the shortest route, so there are definite lanes of travel along which an enormous amount of shipping moves. This means that not only are these pathways pol- luted with ship sewage, but that drink- ing water for ship use is being con- stantly pumped from the same areas. The lack of responsibility and care so often displayed in selecting the Vessels in going from port ,